Oracle’s Latest Earnings Call Indicated Its Next Frontier: Healthcare

Famed technology and software giant Oracle took a bold step late last year when it announced its acquisition of Cerner, an electronic health records (EHR) company. This valiant purchase signaled a new or perhaps reinvigorated commitment for Oracle: reimagining the future of healthcare.

This week, during Oracle’s quarterly earnings call, this commitment was reiterated by top executives in the firm, including none other than Oracle founder and CEO, Larry Ellison.

The company already has a significant presence in multiple facets of the healthcare industry, especially through its robust cloud and software businesses. Ellison highlighted in the call: “So how are we doing in healthcare? We already have Tenet Health, Kaiser, Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic, Northwell Health, Mount Sinai, Atrium Health. I can go a long list of ERP and HCM wins in the healthcare — those are all healthcare providers. We’ve added some additional healthcare providers, mainly hospitals and clinics.”

However, Ellison emphasized an even larger pipeline to come: “Health care is interesting. I started by talking about hospitals, provide — people who provide healthcare. The healthcare industry is much bigger than that. There are medical device manufacturers. There are pharmaceutical companies. There are the payers, insurance companies and government agencies that are all part of this healthcare ecosystem. So we’re not just focused on providers like hospitals and clinics, but also we won a big ERP deal over SAP at Johnson & Johnson, at J&J […] We’re going after the entire integrated ecosystem, and we’re having some great results. Obviously, that influenced our decision to buy Cerner.”

This ecosystem is really where the challenge is. As Ellison discusses, American healthcare is no longer simply about going to doctor and getting a treatment. The entire ecosystem has become incredibly nuanced, entailing complexities with regards to the hospital systems involved, insurance and payor issues, the rapidly evolving provider landscape, pharmaceutical development and delivery, and novel care delivery models. Indeed, healthcare is not the same as it once was.

This complex landscape is a large reason why American healthcare has not had true disruption for many decades. Although there have been significant improvements in how care is delivered and renewed interest in healthcare technology, the reality is that American healthcare is still riddled with numerous issues.

Needless to say, many powerful forces have tried to ideate solutions. Take for example Haven Healthcare, a venture formed by Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway, and JPMorgan Chase with the goal to simplify healthcare access and delivery. Though the company closed after 3…